In a significant breakthrough in the investigation into the Bengaluru bomb blast that occurred at The Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1, Tamil Nadu police have unearthed crucial clues linking the suspects to Chennai. The trail began with the discovery of a limited edition baseball cap, which one of the suspects was seen wearing in CCTV footage from the cafe in Whitefield where the improvised explosive device (IED) was planted.
The abandoned cap was found near a religious place approximately three kilometres from the cafe, where the suspect allegedly changed his attire. Subsequent investigations by a Special Branch CID team revealed that the suspect, identified as Musavir Hussain Shazib, had been spotted in Chennai in January prior to the blast.
Further scrutiny of CCTV footage led authorities to a shop in a mall where Shazib and his associate, Abdil Mathern Taha, purchased the cap along with other items. The cap, emblazoned with the number 10, was identified as a limited edition piece sold exclusively to approximately 400 individuals in southern states.
The meticulous tracking of the cap’s purchase ultimately led investigators to Chennai, where Shazib and Taha were traced to a lodge in Triplicane, having assumed false identities. The duo, residents of Thirthahalli in Karnataka and affiliated with a Shivmogga IS module, had purchased the cap from a retail store in Mylapore.
Shazib and Taha, both wanted in a 2020 NIA case, are now under scrutiny as forensic tests are conducted on hair strands recovered from the cap found in Bengaluru. Additionally, the NIA plans to compare the DNA extracted from the cap with samples obtained from Shazib’s close family members.
The significance of the limited edition cap in unraveling the suspects’ movements underscores the importance of meticulous investigative techniques in solving complex cases. The cap, worn by Shazib while planting the IED at the cafe, has become a crucial piece of evidence in piecing together the events leading up to the tragic incident.
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It is also learned that “ the duo stayed in a lodge in Triplicane in January and February using fake IDs before going to Andhra Pradesh. The Tamil Nadu Team has shared its findings with the NIA for their follow up. The Tamil Nadu SD-SBCID sleuths are probing whether the duo bought explosives from Tamil Nadu and who they contacted during their stay in Chennai and visited or travelled to any other part of Tamil Nadu.
